Toggle locking wrenches



r June 28, 1955 w. PETERSEN ToGGLE LOCKING wRENcx-IES Filed June 4, 1954 mv. Q bm. mm. wm,

United States TOGGLE LOCKING WRENCHES William Petersen, De Witt, N ehr.

Application June 4, 1954, Serial No. 434,419 4 claims. (cl. :i1-s4) A particluar object of the present invention is to provide a novel construction in toggle locking wrenches of the character stated wherein an outward pull upon the toggle lever in the conventional manner will aifect the opening of the tool easily and quickly.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a tool of the character stated, a construction wherein the opening ofthe tool can be accomplished by the operator without requiring that the operator learn to manipulate any auxiliary levers such as are commonly employed as opening devices for tools of this character.

Still another object of the invention is to provide in a toggle locking wrench of the character stated, a main toggle lever and an auxiliary toggle lever pivotally connected therewith and forming an extension of the main lever to function in the same manner as the conventional lever, with means whereby the auxiliary lever when pulled outwardly will apply thrust to the toggle arm which forms a connection between the main toggle lever and a fulcrum element on the opposite handle portion of the tool to easily break the joint between the toggle arm and the main toggle lever.l

Still another object of the invention is to provide, in a manner as hereinafter set forth, a novel means for latching together the main toggle lever and auxiliary toggle lever so that the two levers will have no relative movement and so that the locking action of the tool will be destroyed, to thereby enable the user of the tool to open and close the jaws freely when the tool is to be used with a ratchet like action or as pliers.

The invention Will be best understood from a consideration of the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawing forming a part of the specification, with the understanding, however, that the invention is not to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described since obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a view partly in side elevation and partly in longitudinal section of a toggle locking wrench constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is a transverse section taken substantially on the line 2--2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a longitudinal section through the rear end of the main toggle lever and the auxiliary toggle lever showing the slide latch in lever locking position whereby the two pivotally coupled levers are joined for movement as a single unit.

arent Figure 4 is a view of the under side of the levers and a portion of the toggle arm.

Referring now more particularly to the drawing the numeral 10 generally designates the conventional handle for a tool of the character disclosed, which handle is of substantially vU-shaped cross section as shown in Figure 2 and at its rear end'is closed to form a sleeve 12 which is internally threaded to receive the adjustment screw 14. The outer end of the screw carries the conventional knurled head 16 while the forward or inner end is reduced to provide the fulcrum finger 18.

In the forward end of the handle 1@ there is fixed the stationary jaw 2@ and extending transversely of the two side portions lta of the handle, is a pivot pin 22 on which is pivotally mounted the movable jaw 24 which coacts with the fixed jaw 2t).

As shown the movable jaw has the outwardly extending ear portion 24a which has extending transversely thereacross the pivot pin 26 and between the pivot pins 2.2 and 26 the movable jaw has attached thereto at 28, one end of a pull spring 36, the other end of which extends rearwardly between the side portions 16a of the handle and is secured to the handle at 31, in the conventional manner. It will be seen that this spring by its pulling action constantly tends to pull on the jaw 24 to move it to open position.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided the short main toggle lever 32 which is of U-shaped cross section as illustrated in Figure 2 and is bifurcated at its forward end to receive the ear portion 24a of the movable jaw and the furcations which position on opposite sides of the movable jaw have the pivot pin 26 passed therethrough. Thus the main toggle lever 32 can swing relatively to the handle lil as will be readily apparent.

At a suitable location rearwardly of the pivot 26, the main toggle lever 32 has extended across between and pivotally connected with its side portions, the pivot pin 33 upon which is pivotally supported the forward end of the solid toggle arm 34. This toggle arm at its rear end is formed to provide the seat or step 35 in which the pin 18 of the adjustment screw 14 positions.

As will be readily understood by those familiar with the action of the toggle locking wrench of the character herein described, when pressure is applied to the main toggle lever 32 to move it toward the handle It) the pivot 33 is forced inwardly so as to straighten out the toggle formed by the lever and the arm until the pivot 33 comes into line with the pivot 26 and the pin 18 and when this occurs either with the jaws 2t) and 24 together or with an object between them the toggle will be locked.

In the present invention the short main toggle lever 32 is provided at the outer side, at a convenient location rearwardly of the pivot 33, with the opening 36 and the toggle arm upon the outer side', that is, the side away from the handle 10, is provided with a lug 37 which is in line with the opening 36, and a second lug 38 which is positioned rearwardly of the lug 37 and is directed toward the inner side of the main toggle lever 32.

Extending transversely between the sides of the main toggle lever 32, and positioned between the lugs 37 and 38, is a pivot pin 39 which extends outwardly beyond the sides ofthe lever 32.

Disposed in straddling relation with the rear end portion of the main toggle lever is the auxiliary toggle lever 4i) which is of U-shaped cross section as shown in Figure 2 and the side portions of this auxiliary lever are pivotally mounted upon the ends of the pin 39 so that the auxiliary lever can have rocking motion relative to the main lever 32.

The forward end of the auxiliary lever 40 curves outwardly slightly as indicated at 46a and this out curved end portion covers the opening 36 as shown while the 3 rear end of the auxiliary lever extends a substantial distance beyond the rear end of the main lever as illustrated.

The spacing between the back of the main lever and the back of the auxiliary lever is such that the auxiliary lever can have some swinging motion in and out with respect to the main lever and when it is swung out as shown in Figure 3 a considerable space is provided between the rear end of the main lever and the auxiliary lever for the purpose about to be described.

Riveted or otherwise suitably secured to the inner or under side of the auxiliary toggle lever at the rear cnd thereof, as indicated at 41, is an end of a long flat leaf spring 42 which extends forwardly as shown. Interposed between the forward end of this leaf spring and the underside of the auxiliary lever, is a sliding latch member 43 which carries the pair of guide fingers 44 which are fixed to its opposite sides and are bent together across the free end of the spring 42 whereby the latch is free to slide forwardly and backwardly and at the same time is held in place by the spring.

When the auxiliary lever is swung outwardly to the position shown in Figure 3 the latch 43 can be shifted forwardly and will be positioned between the two levers as illustrated so that the levers are thus locked together and must then swing as a single unit on the pivot 26. When the levers are so connected the locking action of the wrench is prevented and the wrench can thus be opened and closed at will to perform desired operations without having the jaws locked together.

When the latch 43 is moved back to permit the auxiliary lever to swing freely on the main lever and pressure is applied to the auxiliary lever to force the two levers in toward the handle 10 the rear end of the main toggle lever will be against the inner side of the auxiliary lever and the forward end, beyond the pivot 39, will be away from the main toggle lever and accordingly when pressure is applied to the pivot 33 to straighten out the toggle connection between the pivot 26 and the pin 18 the release lug 37 will be projected through the opening 36 as shown in Figure l and the lug 3S will come into Contact with the inner side of the main toggle lever forming a stop to prevent the pivot 33 swinging past center.

When it is desired to open the tool after locking it as described, an outward pull is applied to the rear end of the auxiliary toggle lever which, pivoting on the pin 39, will apply inward thrust against the release lug 37 near the pivot 33 thus breaking the pivot joint 33 outwardly in the conventional manner, with a minimum of effort.

From the foregoing it will be readily seen that the tool i The advantage of the release device is that the pressure required to open the tool is much less than it is with the conventional one-piece lever. Also the opening pressure is applied in the same direction and in the same manner as with the conventional toggle wrench with a one-piece lever, so that there is nothing new for the operator to learn.

I claim:

1. In a wrench comprising the combination of a handle provided with a stationary jaw and a movable jaw mounted on said handle; the improvement which comprises a main toggle lever of channel cross section pivoted at one end to said movable jaw and having a length materially less than the length of the handle, a toggle arm pivotally engaged at one end in the channel of the lever intermediate the ends of the latter and at its other end pivotally connected with said handle, an auxiliary toggle lever pivoted at one end to the main toggle lever rearwardly of said one end of the arm, said auxiliary lever overlapping for a portion of its length the rear end of the main toggle lever upon the outer side of the latter, the main lever having an aperture therethrough between the auxiliary lever pivot and the pivoted one end of the arm and covered by the auxiliary lever, and a release lug carried by the arm in line with and adapted to project through said aperture when the main lever and toggle arm are in aligned locking relation.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, with a second lug carried by the toggle arm rearwardly of the auxiliary toggle lever for engagement against the inner side of the main toggle lever when the parts are in the said locking relation.

3. The invention as set forth in claim l, with means for locking the main and auxiliary levers together in a position in which the forward end of the auxiliary lever functions to prevent projection of the first lug through the aperture.

4. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein the auxiliary lever when swung on its pivot to one position lies against the main lever over said aperture to prevent projection of the first lug therethrough and the levers are separated to provide a space rearwardly of the auxiliary lever pivot, and a latch element shiftably carried by one of the levers for positioning in said space to rigidly secure the levers against relative movement.

References Cited in the ille of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,443,153 Wells June 8, 1948 2,532,659 Burns Dec. 5, 1950 2,543,922 Mead Mar. 6, 1951 2,589,511 Redmon Mar. 18, 1952 2,590,750 Burns Mar. 25, 1952 2,604,803 McCann July 29, 1952 2,669,145 Mead Feb. 16, 1954 

